Recommendations based on "The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death A Novel"

A brilliant FBI agent, rotting away in a high security prison for a murder he did not commit.His brilliant, psychotic brother, about to perpetrate a horrific crime.A young woman with an extraordinary past, on the edge of a violent breakdown.An ancient Egyptian tomb about to be unveiled at a celebrity-studded New York gala, an enigmatic curse released.Memento Mori

A gripping, heart-pounding action-packed thriller from the author of The Good Husband. Lucas and Julia are about to become parents, but there's something Lucas hasn't told his wife. Two months ago, he lost his job and has been secretly working as a rideshare driver in a desperate attempt to make ends meet. But that's about the be the least of his problems. One evening he picks up a passenger in the Hollywood Hills. The man, Damon, puts a gun to Lucas's head, and tells him to drive. Because Damon has a list of men he intends to kill, and he needs Lucas's help. If Lucas complies, his family will be safe, but others will suffer. If he fights back, Damon will target his wife and daughter. It's an impossible choice, but what's clear is that Lucas's life is about to change forever. If he survives the night. READERS LOVE STEVE FRECH! 'I was hooked from the start and finished this book in 1 day. I couldn't read it fast enough' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'A dizzying whirlwind with layer after layer of secrecy' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Great characters, a fast-moving plot and superb writing' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“[A] fantastically hopped-up thriller . . . a wrong-man plot worthy of Hitchcock.”—Entertainment Weekly (Editor’s Choice)In development as a major motion picture!It’s three thousand miles from the green fields of glory, where Henry “call me Hank” Thompson once played California baseball, to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where the tenements are old, the rents are high, and the drunks are dirty. But now Hank is here, working as a bartender and taking care of a cat named Bud who is surely going to get him killed.It begins when Hank’s neighbor, Russ, has to leave town in a rush and hands over Bud in a carrier. But it isn’t until two Russians in tracksuits drag Hank over the bar at the joint where he works and beat him to a pulp that he starts to get the idea: Someone wants something from him. He just doesn’t know what it is, where it is, or how to make them understand he doesn’t have it.Within twenty-four hours Hank is running over rooftops, swinging his old aluminum bat for the sweet spot of a guy’s head, playing hide and seek with the NYPD, riding the subway with a dead man at his side, and counting a whole lot of cash on a concrete floor.All because of two cowboys, two Russian mafia men, and some of the weirdest goons ever assembled in one place. All because of Bud. All because once, in another life, in another world, the only thing Hank wanted was to take third base—without getting caught.

Philadelphia police detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano are working a new beat: the Special Investigations Unit, aka the cold case squad. Ironic, given that it’s the height of a blazing hot August. But even these hardened homicide veterans are chilled to the bone as a dormant murder case stirs to life–leading Byrne and Balzano into the dark heart of their city, their souls, and a psyche of pure evil.Months before, a teenage runaway’s body was found in the desolate, dangerous North Philly district dubbed the Badlands. Dead runaways were no novelty on these mean streets, but the Caitlin O’Riordan case was different. Her corpse was found in the basement of a rancid tenement apartment, the inexplicable cause of death: drowning. In the end, nothing was solved and the case was closed.Now a confession to the bizarre murder on the police tipline sends Byrne and Balzano rushing to make an arrest. But instead of a killer, they discover a ghastly scene: a jar containing human remains–along with a cryptic clue leading to an unlikely witness. Laura Somerville lives far from the squalor of the Badlands, and seemingly light-years from any connection to a murdered runaway. But moments after discussing the case with this elegant lady, Byrne and Balzano make another grisly discovery, and find an enigmatic word spelled out in Scrabble tiles.Across town, another victim’s shallow grave reveals deeper mysteries. Her secret diaries portray a woman haunted by a shocking past, and obsessed with finding a depraved killer.Now, as the body count grows, a terrifying design literally takes shape. Pieces of a gruesome puzzle are being set into place by the cruel hands of a madman using the city as his game board. His playthings are the innocent, and his opponents–and pawns–are Byrne and Balzano, who must, before time runs out, decipher the truth about a shadowy house of horrors and its elusive master.Internationally acclaimed author Richard Montanari works his black magic to spine-tingling perfection in Badlands, conjuring all the relentless suspense, dark twists of intrigue, and full-throttle action that make his brilliant, engrossing novels required reading for thriller fans.

The brutal murder of Dr. Azor Sparks in an alley behind a restaurant is greeted with public outrage and a demand for swift, sure justice. But the investigation into the well-known surgeon's death is raising too many questions and providing too few answers for homicide detective Lieutenant Peter Decker.Why, for example, would the family of a man so beloved respond to his slaying with more surprise than grief? And what linked a celebrated doctor with strict fundamentalist beliefs to a gang of outlaw bikers? But the most unsettling connection of all is the one that ties the tormented Sparks family to Peter Decker's own -- and the secrets shared by a renegade Catholic priest...and Decker's wife, Rina Lazarus.

From the bestselling author of Her Last Scream, a chilling tale of ritual murder and corruption, featuring Detective Carson Ryder. The Reverend Honus Schrum, a nationally renowned minister and owner of a broadcasting empire, tells the media he has come home to Key West to die. Meanwhile, Detective Carson Ryder is investigating the ritualistic murders of young women with chequered pasts, discovering the killings have religious overtones. Simultaneously, a newly retired Harry Nautilus takes a job as a driver/bodyguard for Richard Owsley, an ambitious pastor in Mobile. They come to Florida, where Owsley meets with Schrum and is enlisted to complete a special and mysterious 'project' Schrum has promised a billionaire benefactor. As Carson digs deeper into the murders, Harry, interest piqued by all the hush-hush goings-on of his new employer, begins to covertly investigate the strange project. Their independent investigations begin to converge, and Carson and Harry uncover a horrifying connection between the cases...

The ultimate psychosexual thriller and one of the greatest suspense novels of all time, The First Deadly Sin is the book that began the Sanders success story. A well dresses man stalks the high class neighborhoods of New York City. He is armed with an ice ax. His victims are strangers. And one cop, Captain Ed Delaney, must solve a series of bizarre, gruesome murders that defy logic or method. This shocking story has captured the imaginations of millions like no other modern thriller.

From a beloved master of crime fiction, "The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper" is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hard-boiled detective who lives on a houseboat. He had done a big favor for her husband, then for the lady herself. Now she's dead, and Travis McGee finds that Helena Pearson Trescott had one last request of him: to find out why her beautiful daughter Maureen keeps trying to kill herself. But what can a devil-may-care beach bum do for a young troubled mind? "The Travis McGee novels are among the finest works of fiction ever penned by an American author."--Jonathan Kellerman McGee makes his way to the prosperous town of Fort Courtney, Florida, where he realizes pretty quickly that something's just not right. Not only has Maureen's doctor killed herself, but a string of murders and suicides are piling up--and no one seems to have any answers. Just when it seems that things can't get any stranger, McGee becomes the lead suspect in the murder of a local nurse. As if Maureen didn't have enough problems, the man on a mission to save her will have to save himself first--before time runs out. Features a new Introduction by Lee Child

In Siberia, a sudden thaw uncovers two murder victims that had been frozen for 50 years, as well as a host of disturbing questions. Since each is dressed in the uniform of a WW II Allied officer, Russian authorities decide to invite agents from England and the United States to join in a collaborative effort to discover the truth behind the murders. Charlie Muffin, the British operative, is having enough problems without traveling to the hell-on-earth that is Siberia, but once there he begins to suspect that this might be just his sort of case. His phones are tapped, his own government seems to be against him, and his fellow agents are as uncooperative as the corpses they're investigating. When Charlie finally identifies the bodies, he finds he's unearthed a secret that all three governments will kill to put back in the ground -- even if he has to go there with it.Dead Men Living is the much-anticipated next thriller in Brian Freemantle's acclaimed Charlie Muffin series, and as his fans and critics will agree, it's his best yet.

A USA Today Bestseller!The Sunshine State’s most lovable psychopath, Serge A. Storms, kills it in this zany adventure from the “compulsively irreverent and shockingly funny” (Boston Globe) king of mayhem, New York Times bestselling author Tim Dorsey.Serge and Coleman are back on the road, ready to hit the next stop on their list of obscure and wacky points of interest in the Sunshine State. This time, Serge’s interest is drawn to one of the largest retirement villages in the world—also known as the site of an infamous sex scandal between a retiree and her younger beau that rocked the community. What starts out as an innocent quest to observe elders in their natural habitats, sample the local cuisine, and scope out a condo to live out the rest of their golden years, soon becomes a Robin Hood-like crusade to recover the funds of swindled residents. After all, our seniors should be revered and respected—they’ve heroically fought in wars, garnered priceless wisdom, and they have the best first-hand accounts of bizarre Floridian occurrences only Serge would know about. But as the resident’s rally for Serge to seek justice on their behalves, two detectives are hot on the heels of Serge and Coleman’s murderous trail. In this epic adventure that jumps between present day and the tumultuous times of the Vietnam war, mystery fans are in for a witty and deliciously violent delight from the twisted imagination of bestselling author Tim Dorsey.